Automatic weigher.



PATENTED APR. 4, 1905.

C. BRADFORD. AUTOMATIC WEIGHER. APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 6, 1905.

Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT QFFICR.

CHESTER BRADFORD, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 786,785, dated April 4, 1905.

Application I'iled January 6, 1905. Serial No. 239,889.'

To (IJ/Z when@ '/'l; puny concern:

Be it known that I, CnnsrnR BRADFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic IVeighers, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention consists in certain improvements upon that which forms the subject-matter of Letters Patent of the United States No. 650,593, issued to the Pneumatic Elevator and I'Veigher Company May 29, 1900, upon the application of .Iames B. Schuman.

Teighers 0f the kind in question (which are principally used in weighing grain as it comes from threshing-machines) are necessarily of a less iinished construction in some respects than the scales which are commonly used in the weighing of merchandise, 85e. In particular it has been customary to make the scale pivot-points of such weighers mere projections upon and integral with the cast arms or beams, and it has been customary also to make the engaging' or latching points ordinary cast surfaces. These two points being thus left somewhat rough and uneven have been the occasion of more or less friction, which has resulted in some sluggishness of movement and consequent inaccuracy in weighing. Then, too, these parts (being ordinary malleable or other castings) have not been hard enough to withstand the wear to which they are subjected i'f made of the proper Yform for the service required. To insert steel pivots in the manner commonly followed in the manufacture of ordinary commercial scales involves a more expensive construction than can be profitably embodied in machines which must be sold at a price which purchasers of machines of this character will pay.

The object 0f my invention, therefore, is to provide durable, sufficiently accurate, and at the same time inexpensive wearing or contact points at the various places where the weigherdrum is supported upon the frame or engages therewith in operation, as will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring` to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure I is a side elevation of a weigher embodying my present improvements as the same appears when secured in place upon a grain-elevator for a threshing-machine; Fig. 2, a central lvertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the latching portions thereof as seen when looking` in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted lines 2 2 in Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a detail sectional view at the point indicated by the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 2; Fig. Li, a detail elevation of the inner end of the scale-beam and immediately-adjacent parts as seen when looking outwardly from the drum; Fig. 5, a detail sectional view as seen when looking in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted line 5 in Fig. A; Fig. 6, a detail sectional view at the point indicated by the dotted lines 6 6 in Fig. Fig.l 7, a detail view of the upper end of one of the hangers and a scale-pivot thereon separately; Fig. S, a detail sectional View at the point indicated by the dotted line 8 8 in Figs. and A, and Fig. 9 a perspective view of one of the scale-pivots separateiy.

As before stated, the pivots upon which the scale mechanism turns have usually been cast integrally with the appropriate frame and scale parts. The several frame and scale parts, it may be here remarked, are commonly made of malleable iron. Instead of casting these pivots integrally with the parts to which they are carried I provide separate pivots made of steel and form them with flat bases, by means of which they are enabled to be riveted to the appropriate adjacent Yframe and scale parts. These small steel pivots can be either caststeel castings or drop-forgings, can be formed in exactly the shape desired, are adapted to be hardened to any extent wanted, and are capable of being riveted directly to the castings without fitting of any kind, so that I am enabled to provide hardened-steel pivots of appropriate shape and size without any of the expensive iitting incident to usual scale construction and at the same time provide the hard wearing-points necessary to endure prolonged use. The rivet-holes are either cast, punched, or drilled very quickly and rapidly and when punched or drilled should be done with a jig, which secures the necessary accuracy of position of these scale-pivots relative to the parts to which they are attached. There are four frame and scale parts to which these pivot-points are to be attached-viz., two frame sides, one of which, 171, is shown, (the other' being' beyond and hidden by the side 171,) to which said pivots are secured at points a little way out on the arms of said sides, and two hangers, one of which, 173, is shown, (the other being' beyond and hidden,) to which said pivots are secured at the upper ends. The pivots themselves are all alike and are of the shape illustrated in Fig. 9, and each consists of a base 21 in the form of a flat disk with preferably two rivet-holes therein and a projecting point 22 of appropriate length and which is substantially of the form in cross-section which is commonly employed in the making of scale-pivots. Four (two pairs) of these pivots are used in each weigher, one of each pair upon each of the two frame sides and one of each pair upon each of the two hang'ers. Each is secured in place by two or more rivets 23. The sharp or bearing edg'es of one of each pair is presented upwardly and that of the other downwardly, as best shown in Fig. 4. The scale-beam 175 is supported by the pivot on the part 171 and engages with and carries the pivot on the hanger 173.

The weigher-drum D is mounted, by means of a pivot-rod R, upon the two hangers and operates by rocking from side to side on said pivot-rod, as in the Patent No. 650,593, above referred to. Bounding the outer sides of its two ingress-opening's are the two cross-bars 27, having' appropriate central latching-tongues 28 and which are similar to the corresponding cross-bars of the patent in question. Secured to the upper end of the two frame sides is a rectangular frame 170, by means of which the weig'her is suspended to the delivery-head of the grain-elevator. This frame has heretofore, as shown in the Patent No. 650,593, had central projecting solid ears which served as catches for the latch-tongues on the crossbars 27. The catch-notches in these ears being in solid rough castings, as stated, there has been considerable friction between the latching devices, with the result that the weigher would not drop as promptly as is desirable when the predetermined weight of grain (as it iiowed into the appropriate compartment of the weighing-drum) was reached. This sluggishness in movement is not always uniform (as the parts, under the iniiuence of the vibration of the machine to which the weigher is attached, will not'always be held in contact with uniform force) and is therefore apt to cause some variations in the weights. In order to fully meet all the requirements of the situation, I have provided an antifrietion-roller in each catch against which the corresponding latehing-tongue will rest while the corresponding compartment in the weigher-drum is filling and have devised a roller-bearing in which the roller is so mounted as to be protected from any blows from the latching-tongue as the drum swings into place, but which, nevertheless, will enable said tongue to escape easily and quickly when the predetermined weight is reached, thus overcoming the sluggish movement above referred to.

The difficulties in operating the weigher accurately have also been accentuated by the violent blow resulting from the contact of metal upon metal as the tongue 23 on the bar 27 reached the adjacent surface provided as a strike or stop on the part 170 at the termination of each weigher-drum movement. This I have overcome by providing' a stop or strike surface of a less rigid character, which I do by securing upon the metal a piece of leather or some similar material to serve as a buierplate.

In my improved catch construction I make an ear 31, which has a vertical surface 32 for the buffer-plate 33 and also a horizontal surface 34 for the roller-housing,these surfaces being' preferably bounded by guards or ribs, as 36 and 37, at the edges. Said ear is provided with smaller ears 35, by means of which it may be secured, as by rivets 38, to the sides of the rectangular frame 170, or it may be made integral with said frame. Ithen provide a housing 41, in which I mount the antifriction-roller 42 on a suitable pivot or shaft 43. ,l construct the housing so that its lower edges extend to a point somewhat below the lowermost surface of the roller, so that the catch or tongue 23 of the part Q7 cannot strike said roller as it is swinging, but instead will contact with the lower edges of the housing itself, the roller being thus entirely protected from any violent blow. After the latch-tongue'passes the roller, however, it rises up behind it, and as thematerial to be weighedaccumulatesinthe weighingdrum said tongue will rest lirmly againstsaid roller, and the weigher-drum is at all times ready to drop without havingl the motion retarded by the friction consequent upon rubbing' against the rough surface heretofore forming the bearing for said tongue.

The housing 41 is secured to the car 31 by means of a bolt 45, which holds it securely in place. In ease of any need of adjustment shims, as 46, of varying thickness can be interposed upon the upper' side of the housing 41 and the under side of the ear 31, to which it is attached. Said housing 41 is U-shaped, and the head of the bolt 45 is within the U and is held from turning by the sides thereof. The housing is held from turning by the flanges or ribs 37, and consequently a single bolt is all that is necessary to hold said housing securely and in the desired position.

Having thus fully described my said invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-w 1. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the cylindrical weigher-drum, a cenlOO IIO

trally-arran ged pivot-shaft on which said drum is mounted, hangers carrying said pivot-shaft, latching devices for holding the weighingdrum to position while filling, the scale-beams, the weigher-frame, and separately-formed pivots, having fiat bases whereby they are enabled to be attached to said frame and said hangers, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the pivot-shaft on which said drum is mounted, hangers carrying said pivot-shaft, the weigher-frame, scalebeams mounted on said weigher-frame and pivotally connected to said hangers, two separate latch projections on said weigher-drum, and two separate catches therefor on said weigher-frame, said catches being provided with rollers against which said latch projections will bear while the weigher is filling, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, its supports, its scale mechanism, and its latching mechanism, said latching mechanism embodying ears on the framework, roller-housings secured to said ears, and rollers in said roller-housings arranged to receive the pressure of the latching projectionson the drum while the material to be weighed is entering the compartments of the drum, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the supporting devices therefor embodying scale mechanism, the weigher-drum, and the latching mechanism, said latching mechanism embodying projections carried by the drum, ears on the weigher-frame, adjustable housings secured to said ears, and rollers mounted in said housings, the edges of said housings at the lower sides projecting below the lower surface of said rollers whereby said rollers are guarded from contact with the latching parts on the drum as they raise to position, while said rollers project beyond the edges of said housings at the inner sides thereby enabling said latching parts on the drum to rest against them during the filling operation.

5. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the weigher-frame, the supporting' and scale mechanism therefor, a latching mechanism comprising ears on the weigher-frame having contact-surfaces faced with a yielding material, roller-housings also secured to said ears in front of said contactsurfaces, rollers in said housings, and latching parts on the weigher-drum adapted (as the weigher operates) to first strike said contactsurfaces and then pass up behind said rollers and iinall y bear against said rollers during the filling operation.

6. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the weigher-frame, the supporting and scale mechanism therefor, a latching mechanism comprising ears on the weigher-frame embodying both a stop and a catch and latching parts on the weigher-drum adapted to engage the catch parts of said ears, said catch parts in said ears embodying rollerhousings adjustabl y connected thereto, and rollers in said housings, said housings being constructed, as shown, to guard the lower sides of said rollers while exposing the inner sides.

7. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the weigher-frame, the supporting and scale mechanism therefor, and latching mechanism comprising ears on the weigher-frame cmbodyingstops and suitable housiiig-bearings, roller-housings secured to said ears upon said housing-bearings, rollers in said housings, and shims interposed between said bearings and said housings whereby the distance may be accurately adjusted.

8. The combination, in an automatic weigher, of the weigher-drum, the weigher-frame, the supporting and scale mechanism therefor, a latching mechanism comprising ears on the weigher-frame embodying stops and suitable horiZontally-positioned housing-bearings, U- shaped roller-housings secured on said ears to the under side of said housing-bearings, rollers in said housings, bolts extending vertically up through the said housings and bearings with their heads within the interior of the U, and shims interposed between said bearings and said housings.

1n witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 3d day of January, A. D. 1905.

CHESTER BRADFORD.

Vitnesses:

JAMES A. lViiLsu, RUTH VVoirrnINGrroN. 

